We are still learning about what happened… how this murderer was able to purchase a gun… whatever his twisted rationale was for walking into a House of Worship in a small town and slaughtering more than twenty people — including young children — with an assault weapon.

Our incredible law enforcement officials are working hard to answer all of that.

But the most important fact of all is something we already know very well:

This was yet another case where someone on American soil, who had absolutely no business getting his hands on a weapon of war, was able to get one, and use it to commit heinous mass murder.

And the Second Amendment does not mean that Americans should have to risk getting shot just because they walked down the wrong street in a city, or decided to go to a music festival in Las Vegas, or a nightclub in Orlando, or an elementary school in Newtown, or a movie theater in Aurora…

Or a church on a Sunday in Texas.

And after each of these horrific acts of violence, what happened here in Congress?

More than a month after Las Vegas, we still can't even tackle the most obvious fixes — like banning bump stocks.

Plain and simple, Americans are being slaughtered, and Congress is refusing to stand up for them.

And I hear my colleagues who rightly say we can't pass laws to stop every instance of a deranged gunman who wants to kill innocent men, women, and children — just like our other criminal laws won't necessarily stop every instance of crime.

But we know the NRA won't say that, because they want to keep selling these weapons of war to anyone who is willing to pay, no matter how unsafe it makes the rest of us.

Congress has caved over and over again to the enormous pressure from the NRA and the gun industry, which just wants to protect their profits, and has ignored the vast majority of Americans — gun owners and non-gun owners alike — who support commonsense measures to keep their fellow Americans safe.

And Mr. President, to those who doubt that Congress can actually get something done…

We already know that depending on the motivation, depending on whom Congress is actually listening to, Congress is fully capable of moving quickly to enact change — instead of acting like its hands are tied and refusing to do anything, which is what is happening now.

Far more often than not, Congress listens to the special interests instead of the people who actually elected them to keep them safe.

Listen to the shameful state of our gun laws now, and tell me if you think these laws came about because families in our states demanded them — or because the NRA demanded them.

Congress has turned its collective back on strengthening and expanding our national background check system.

We should be fixing the holes in the system — whatever is necessary — not just shrugging our shoulders and saying there's nothing that can be done. Who do you think demanded that we don't fix the background check system — families, or the NRA?

Congress refuses to ban high-capacity magazines, which are made for war and let killers fire dozens of rounds without having to frequently stop and reload. Who do you think demanded that — families or the NRA?

Congress still refuses to ban assault weapons, which are designed for war, designed to kill as many people as possible as rapidly as possible — but are given different names so they can be sold in the civilian world. Who do you think demanded that — families or the NRA?

Congress is on the verge of passing legislation to make it much easier for killers to buy suppressors — known by many as silencers — to attach to their weapons and make it harder for the police to do their jobs and catch violent criminals. Who do you think demanded that - families or the NRA?

Congress is dragging its feet on banning bump stocks, the inexpensive piece of equipment that the killer in Las Vegas used to turn his already powerful firearm into an automatic weapon capable of firing hundreds of rounds per minute. Who do you think demanded that — families or the NRA?

Just this February, Congress overturned a rule that had prevented people who were so incapacitated that they could no longer handle their own finances, from getting their hands on a gun.

Congress even went so far as to pass a law that blocked the Centers for Disease Control from studying the issue of gun deaths the way they are allowed to study any other cause of death in this country. Why? It's an attempt to hide the overwhelming data showing that keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people would decrease gun crimes. Who do you think demanded that Congress suppress the facts and the alarming data about gun violence — families or the NRA?

Mr. President, this must change. Congress needs to start protecting the people who elected us.

Their voices matter, and must be heard.

We must listen, and enact change that could actually help keep our states safe from gun violence.

We need to lead. We need to act. We cannot ignore our responsibility to keep our country safe from violence.

And to all of the people who are watching us right now, I would say this:

After all of these massacres, pay attention to what your elected representatives are doing. Watch how they react. Look closely at how they use their time here. Listen to what they say. After these mass shootings, did they tell you they were going to bow their heads and have a moment of silence, and leave it at that? Or did they tell you they were going to fight with every bit of energy they had to fix our broken gun laws and protect Americans?